The Guardian

The Guardian, until 1959 known as The Manchester Guardian (founded 1821), is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format. Currently edited by Alan Rusbridger, it has grown from a 19th-century local paper to a national paper associated with a complex organisational structure and international multimedia presence with sister papers The Observer (British Sunday paper) and The Guardian Weekly, as well as a web presence. The Guardian in paper form had a certified average daily circulation of 230,541 in October 2011, behind The Daily Telegraph and The Times, but ahead of The Independent. For the three years up to June 2012, its parent lost £100,000 a day, which prompted Intelligent Life to question whether The Guardian can survive. The newspaper's online offering is the second most popular British newspaper website behind the Daily Mail's Mail Online. Founded in 1821 by John Edward Taylor in Manchester, with backing from the non-conformist Little Circle group of local businessmen, The Manchester Guardian replaced the radical Manchester Observer which championed the Peterloo protesters. The paper identifies with centre-left liberalism and its readership is generally on the mainstream left of British political opinion. The paper is also influential in the design and publishing arena, sponsoring many awards in these areas. The Guardian has changed format and design over the years moving from broadsheet to Berliner, and has become an international media organisation with affiliations to other national papers with similar aims. The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, contains articles from The Guardian and its sister Sunday paper The Observer, as well as reports, features and book reviews from The Washington Post and articles translated from Le Monde. Other projects include GuardianFilm, the current editorial director of which is Maggie O'Kane. Its greatest scoop has been the breaking of the News International phone hacking scandal in 2011, particularly with the revelation of the hacking of murdered teenager Milly Dowler's phone. The investigation brought about the closure of one of the highest circulation newspapers in the world, the News of the World.